Anya
Hi, all. Today, I would like to lift my family up in prayer one more time. Over the Easter weekend, unfortunately, things did not improve regarding my mom's relationship with my aunts and the situation with my sister.
The aunt living with my grandpa continues to drink. The outcome of the situation is unknown, except that she will continue to live with my grandpa and drink with no desire to return to rehab. The aunt who lives out of state no longer drinks, but is addicted to vaping instead. When she came to visit for Easter, she asked my mom if they could meet somewhere and talk, to which my mom agreed, but my mom explicitly stated she only wanted to meet for the sake of making peace. My mom also said she would not be able to handle another interaction like the nasty email she received from my out-of-state aunt a few months ago. Unsurprisingly, the plans to meet never materialized, which would appear to have exposed my out-of-state aunt's true intentions to meet. Both aunts barely spoke to my mom at our Easter gathering. My mom says she is done with both of them, which makes her extremely sad, as they are her only siblings.
In addition, at the Easter gathering, my sister was telling my brother and sister-in-law about her new relationship with the woman my former hairstylist set her up with. My sister is in school and, last semester, she stopped attending our weekly Bible study because it supposedly conflicted with her school schedule. For this new relationship, however, she is willing to structure her school schedule so she can drive several hours out of her way every week to meet with this woman. My brother and sister-in-law, who chose to visit friends over attending the Easter church service, were affirming this relationship and cheering her on, which was also extremely disheartening. My brother was also donning a shirt featuring characters from Hazbin Hotel, an animated show about Hell that he watches regularly.
The whole gathering felt like I was sitting at a table full of strangers, with the exception of my parents, grandpa, and husband. The Easter service at church that morning was wonderful and soothed my soul, but the gathering afterward felt like such a sham. I could barely look my aunts in the eye and make conversation with them, because I could visibly see how much they were ignoring my parents. It was also such a distinct clash of ideologies because while my parents, husband, grandpa, and I were talking about the story of Ruth and Naomi, my siblings were talking about my sister's lesbian relationship and my aunts were either on their phones or talking to my siblings, husband, and I (but not my parents) about frivolous things. It is no wonder my siblings and aunts gleefully went over to my grandpa's house to have dessert after lunch, while my parents, husband, and I simply went home.
I leave the issue in God's hands, as I know I am powerless to do anything about the situation except pray, stick closely to the Word, and help my parents and grandpa any way I can. I also wish to lead by example for the ones who are lost, which, in my family, outnumber those of us who are in fellowship with the Lord. 20 years ago, our family wasn't like this, and it really breaks my heart to see the clear division between those who are with the Lord, and those who are against Him. I feel like that is the only explanation for the rifts that continue to deepen.
Prayers for this situation would be greatly appreciated, more than you know. Satan is dividing families and he has ours by the throat. Thank you all so much.